WAG CGM Confession

[mkwh]

We have never done a private ever. A few do but its not real common in our gym. I have thought about it for certain skills and issues but my DD is one that does not react well to feeling pressured, thats my hesitation. I think for her it would put too much "spotlight" on her struggle. Im not sure but that is my gut feeling on how she would react. But every child is different. If it wasnt for that mental side of things with mine I would do it!

 

[AgingHippie]

Thanks for all your support and comments guys. I am going to try and answer you all at once if I can remember everything I read. Duytenh, you have a very good memory indeed!

DD seems to be back to normal and has not asked about missing a practice again. We did let her sign up for basketball and that seemed to make her much happier. She is still at the gym the same amount of time but she also gets bball practice with her buds for 2 hours a week on her off gym night and I think it's allowing her to feel more connected to her school friends. Games have not started yet and that is going to be a challenge because they will be in the morning before a 4 1/2 hr gym practice but we will worry about that when we get there. Of course the first game is the weekend of the first meet!

I think her original stress came from feeling like she was struggling on all the events except bars, funny how it has totally done a turn and now it's just bars.

Here is why I am so annoyed with myself for feeling this way. Before the flyaway stuff came up my thought was the beginning of the season was the warm up phase, then we have 3 meets in January and if she was close to her 36 at the end of that month but there was a problem event that's when it would become apparent. At that point we would figure out if a private or two would be worth it.

To give you some background In L4 we had to do this for Vault because the last 3 meets she would be anywhere between 35.80 to 35.95 with around 8.15's on Vault. We waited so long to address it and she ended up having to leave school early for privates (we got 2) so we could get them in after the last meet and before States. It worked!

Then this flyaway thing comes up and I hear other people getting privates and my calm sensible plan goes out the window and I start questioning myself.

Our team is pretty small this year so they each get adequate time on bars. DD is concerned about the flyaway for sure. She says although nobody has it she feels she is getting the heaviest spot out of everyone and I can tell it's bothering her. I couldn't tell you if that's true or not. She did say she should probably be getting privates. I have really only seen her have a turn at it about 5 times in the past month and she looks close to me but really what do I know?

Realistically, we can't afford privates right now and to be honest I don't think she needs them. I just needed to tell someone I felt like I was getting a little crazy on this one in hopes of keeping it at bay.

 

[gwenmom]

We are doing privates right now. DD self confidence on bars was so low that we knew she needed one on one time to break down the skills and show her she could do it. The mental game has been hard for about the last year so we did what we could to help her. Seems to be working in practice. We will see how it goes this weekend at her meet

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I am in the middle here.....

I would not be getting a private for skills that are not needed until next year/season.

But based on your new info AgingHippie. I might consider speeding up your plan A.

I would be frank with your daughter. Lets see how it goes until after Christmas or the first couple of meets and Jan. Then if she still has a concern do one private. See how it goes and then maybe more closer to states.

Maybe even the thought of a private will help her not stress so much and it might not be needed.

PS I hate minimum scores for move up, but that is just me.

 

[AgingHippie]

I am in the middle here.....

I would not be getting a private for skills that are not needed until next year/season.

But based on your new info AgingHippie. I might consider speeding up your plan A.

I would be frank with your daughter. Lets see how it goes until after Christmas or the first couple of meets and Jan. Then if she still has a concern do one private. See how it goes and then maybe more closer to states.

Maybe even the thought of a private will help her not stress so much and it might not be needed.

PS I hate minimum scores for move up, but that is just me.

I think I may have caused some confusion. DD is not trying to score out. This is just the in house before the start of her season. She is competing L5 this year, all year, so really they should have the flyaway now. They just don't.

I am pretty sure we will have quote a few bar scratches at the first invitational. I am not sure what they are going to do at the in house.

I too do not like the minimum scores for move up. I am just not sure I like the 36 either.

 

[munchkin3]

L5 is really the first level where real fear kick in. Take it as an introduction to optional gymnastics. For our coaches, they would rather spot the skill in a competition than scratch depending on the skill of course. For the flyaway, the coaches have a pretty good sense on which gymnasts are capable of doing it, who is releasing correctly etc, so they can determine if they need to spot at the last second or not.

With optionals, I find the girls have a few skills that are in progress.....they have them sort of, they have to practice them, but they have fears......fulls, double backs, yurchenkos, BHS-BHS......in a lot of the cases, the girl will continue to work the skill right up until a week or so before a meet and determine if it can be used or not.....if they omit the skill, it's because it cannot be done safely, or it is not worth it.....

They will be fine! You will see! It is a fairly easy dismount, it's just scary!

 

[AgingHippie]

Update. The practice before the inhouse was a mess. DD fell on bars more then once. One time she didn't even more for a few minutes. It didn't look good but she was fine and shook it off.

She didn't even want to do the in house after practice but the next day she was ready to go.

The judges took max deductions for this meet. Here is how it turned out:

8.80 Vault - this is a really good Vault for her.

9.25 Beam

7.10 Bars - L4 Dismount

8.95 FX - Fell on Front Tuck

The great news is she came out smiling and happy, I'll take it.

3 girls did their flyaway, which is really cool. None of them were the girls that got the privates.

The coach also called me and said she has the skill and she's just freaking out. She said privates probably won't help because it's not a having the skill problem.

I am so relieved it's over. Our first meet is 3 weeks away and the girls thatdon't have it will scratch bars. The pressure is off and a happy DD.

Win, win!

 

[needcoffee]

Those are really good scores!!! Well done to your dd!

 

[AgingHippie]

Sorry for errors, I hate typing on my phone! More should have been move.

 

[AgingHippie]

Those are really good scores!!! Well done to your dd!

Thank I was surprised she was not upset about bars. She's used to 9's on that event but she wasn't and I'm so happy for that.

 

[2G1B]

Good job for your DD!

I did want to touch on the privates thing... Different girls have different advantages. Some girls are natural gymnasts. In a way, that is an advantage over the kid who has to work her butt off for every skill. Some girls have coaches who really prefer them over some of the other girls, another advantage. Some girls have parents who are coaches... definite advantage. Some girls are naturally strong. Or naturally flexible. And yes, some girls have parents who can afford to pay for privates. Sometimes this is an advantage that those girls have; but sometimes those girls need that one on one to help them get stuff. Maybe they have a hard time learning in an environment where the coach can't take time with them. Maybe the girl has a confidence issue and this helps her.

I admit, my kids have done privates off an on since starting to do team gymnastics. My son way less than my girls because he requests it less. I generally do it when the kid comes up to me and says that they want to do a private for X, Y, Z reasons. Sometimes it is that they need the repetition that they can get in a private that they can't get in a normal practice. Sometimes it is that they need the little nit picking of routines that can be done more easily in a private. But it is always because they want to be there and to help build their confidence. Ultimately... yes, they have the advantage of parents who can afford some privates. Maybe that will be a drop in the bucket to help make up for the genetic disadvantages that DH and I gave them, like flat feet, slow twitch muscles, scoliosis, etc.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

Good job for your DD!

I did want to touch on the privates thing... Different girls have different advantages. Some girls are natural gymnasts. In a way, that is an advantage over the kid who has to work her butt off for every skill. Some girls have coaches who really prefer them over some of the other girls, another advantage. Some girls have parents who are coaches... definite advantage. Some girls are naturally strong. Or naturally flexible. And yes, some girls have parents who can afford to pay for privates. Sometimes this is an advantage that those girls have; but sometimes those girls need that one on one to help them get stuff. Maybe they have a hard time learning in an environment where the coach can't take time with them. Maybe the girl has a confidence issue and this helps her.

I admit, my kids have done privates off an on since starting to do team gymnastics. My son way less than my girls because he requests it less. I generally do it when the kid comes up to me and says that they want to do a private for X, Y, Z reasons. Sometimes it is that they need the repetition that they can get in a private that they can't get in a normal practice. Sometimes it is that they need the little nit picking of routines that can be done more easily in a private. But it is always because they want to be there and to help build their confidence. Ultimately... yes, they have the advantage of parents who can afford some privates. Maybe that will be a drop in the bucket to help make up for the genetic disadvantages that DH and I gave them, like flat feet, slow twitch muscles, scoliosis, etc.

You make an excellent point! My dd isn't a natural gymnast either, she has to work very very hard on it. There are always going to be advantages, some fair, some not. We will do privates when she wants to or thinks she needs it.

OP congrats to your dd, her scores look great. Even bars isn't bad considering the dismount. She will get it in no time and have a great season!

 

[AgingHippie]

Good job for your DD!

I did want to touch on the privates thing... Different girls have different advantages. Some girls are natural gymnasts. In a way, that is an advantage over the kid who has to work her butt off for every skill. Some girls have coaches who really prefer them over some of the other girls, another advantage. Some girls have parents who are coaches... definite advantage. Some girls are naturally strong. Or naturally flexible. And yes, some girls have parents who can afford to pay for privates. Sometimes this is an advantage that those girls have; but sometimes those girls need that one on one to help them get stuff. Maybe they have a hard time learning in an environment where the coach can't take time with them. Maybe the girl has a confidence issue and this helps her.

I admit, my kids have done privates off an on since starting to do team gymnastics. My son way less than my girls because he requests it less. I generally do it when the kid comes up to me and says that they want to do a private for X, Y, Z reasons. Sometimes it is that they need the repetition that they can get in a private that they can't get in a normal practice. Sometimes it is that they need the little nit picking of routines that can be done more easily in a private. But it is always because they want to be there and to help build their confidence. Ultimately... yes, they have the advantage of parents who can afford some privates. Maybe that will be a drop in the bucket to help make up for the genetic disadvantages that DH and I gave them, like flat feet, slow twitch muscles, scoliosis, etc.

These are all great points, hence the reason my thought process was making me feel like a CGM!